Monthly Archives: October 2016

LS32

Day 23

Day 23 covers all of Chapter 18, The Merits of a Person Who Rejoices at Hearing This Sutra, and opens Chapter 19, The Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma.

Last month, I introduced the Merits of the Teacher of the Dharma. Now for the first of those merits:

They will be able to adorn and purify their six sense-organs with these merits. With their pure eyes given by their parents, these good men or women will be able to see all the mountains, forests, rivers and oceans inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds, [each of which is composed of six regions] down to the Avici Hell and up to the Highest Heaven. They also will be able to see the living beings of those worlds, to know the karmas which those living beings are now doing and the region to which each of those living beings is destined to go by his karmas.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gathas:

Listen! I will tell you of the merits
Of those who fearlessly expound
To the great multitude
This Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
They will be able to obtain the excellent eyes
Adorned with eight hundred merits.
Their eyes will be pure
Because of this adornment.

With their eyes given by their parents,
They will be able to see Mt. Meru, Mt. Sumeru,
The Surrounding Iron Mountains,
And the other mountains,
And the forests, oceans and rivers
Inside and outside the one thousand million Sumeru-worlds.
They will be able to see the living beings
Of those worlds [each being composed of the six regions]
Down to the Avici Hell and up to th Highest Heaven.
Although they have not yet obtained heavenly eyes,
They will be able to see all this
With their natural eyes.

As I begin walking through these merits, it is important to underscore that these senses are not yet heavenly. In this case, these feats are accomplished “with their eyes given by their parents.”

Lecture on Lotus Sutra

Self-Work

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There is a lot of messy stuff in our lives for which a lot of work is required to sort out. There is no instant on button for Buddhist practice, regardless of the path chosen. Just as there is a whole
growing cycle required for the lotus blossom to manifest, so it is in our lives. Simply put there is a lot of self-work in order to manifest the lotus blossom in our lives.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – 0ct. 24, 2016

Anyone who wishes to expound this sūtra
Should give up jealousy, anger, arrogance,
Flattery, deception and dishonesty.
He should always be upright.

The Buddha sings these verses to Mañjuśrī in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra in which he describes the peaceful practices of a Bodhisattva. The way we live our lives can either reinforce our delusions or help us gain more clarity about how things really are. In these verses, the Buddha advises against these actions not because he will think less of us when we do them, but because when we find ourselves behaving these ways it is because we are not seeing things for what they are.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32

Day 22

Day 22 covers all of Chapter 17, The Variety of Merits.

Last week I wrote a blog post about a video lecture on the Pure Land as understood by Nichiren Shu. Today’s reading from Chapter 17 provides another Lotus Sutra quote specifically explaining that the Eternal Buddha is always present and that this Saha World is the Pure Land.

Ajita! The good men or women who hear of my longevity of which I told you, and understand it by firm faith, will be able to see that I am expounding the Dharma on Mt. Grdhrakuta,* surrounded by great Bodhisattvas and Sravakas. They also will be able to see that the ground of this Saha-World is made of lapis lazuli, that the ground is even, that the eight roads are marked off by ropes of jambanada gold, that the jeweled trees are standing in lines, and that the magnificent buildings are made of treasures. They also will be able to see that the Bodhisattvas are living in those buildings. They will be able to see all this because, know this, they have already understood [my longevity] by firm faith.

*Mount Sacred Eagle

Link to Youtube playlist
Link to Youtube playlist
Lotus Seeds

The Impermanent Nature of Things

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The Buddha taught that what we are today is a result of what we have thought and done in the past, and what we shall be in the future will be a result of what we think and do in the present.

Unfortunately, we trap ourselves in a vicious cycle of suffering by not recognizing the impermanent nature of things. Neither do we realize the ways in which we are setting in motion the various causes that will eventually determine the nature of our lives. Because of this ignorance, in our attempts to get those things that we mistakenly believe will bring permanent self-fulfillment, we act in ways that are far from beneficial, both for ourselves and for others. Most of us are familiar with the phrase “what goes around comes around,” but how many of us actually make sure that all of our words, actions, and thoughts are the kind that we would like to see mirrored back to us by the people, places, and events in our daily lives?

Lotus Seeds

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 23, 2016

The gods, men and asuras in the world think that I, Śākyamuni Buddha, left the palace of the Śākyas, sat at the place of enlightenment not far from the City of Gayā, and attained Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi [forty and odd years ago]. To tell the truth, good men, it is many hundreds of thousands of billions of nayutas of kalpas since I became the Buddha.

The Buddha makes this proclamation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sutra. This was the first time he revealed himself not as the temporal Siddhartha Gautama, the man who left home and became enlightened, but as the Ever-Present Buddha Śākyamuni who has been alive for innumerable eons helping beings to become enlightened and will continue that existence for twice that time into the future. This is the highest teaching of the Buddha, the purpose of all his expedient teachings that came before, and the Wonderful Dharma that is most difficult to believe and understand. When we comprehend the existence of this Ever-Present Buddha for even the blink of an eye, we gain more clarity about the world than through any of the Buddha’s other teachings.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32

Day 21

Day 21 covers all of Chapter 16, The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata.

It amazes me that I can still have “ah-ha!” moments when reciting the Lotus Sutra. Today, I had one of those moments when reading the Parable of the Skillful Physician and His Sick Chilren.

To set the stage, we have the children who got into some poison and are rolling on the floor in agony by the time their father returns home.

At that time the father returned home. Some sons had already lost their right minds while the others still had not.

I bring this up because of how it plays out when the physician gives his children the medicine he says has a good color, smell and taste.

Notice here that the children can see the medicine has a good color and they can sniff the medicine to test its smell. But they must have faith in their father and his talents as a physician in order to believe the medicine tastes good before they take it.

And so…

The sons who had not lost their right minds saw that this good medicine had a good color and smell, took it at once, and were cured completely. But the sons who had already lost their right minds did not consent to take the medicine given to them, although they rejoiced at seeing their father come home and asked him to cure them, because they were so perverted that they did not believe that this medicine having a good color and smell had a good taste.

This is a wonderful example of faith because that faith – accepting that the medicine will taste good – is tested and confirmed. Once we take the medicine we realize it does, indeed, taste great.

Daily Dharma

Daily Dharma – Oct. 22, 2016

You should promptly discard your false faith and take up the true and sole teaching of the Lotus Sutra at once. Then this triple world of the unenlightened will all become Buddha Lands. Will Buddha lands ever decay? All the worlds in the universe will become pure lands. Will Pure Lands ever be destroyed? When our country does not decay and the world is not destroyed, our bodies will be safe and our hearts tranquil. Believe these words and revere them!

Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on Spreading Peace through Right Practice (Risshō Ankoku-ron). We may believe that we can practice correctly only when the world becomes peaceful. As if so long as we are in this world of conflict, we would need to use force and aggression to create peace. Nichiren turns this idea upside down. He shows that only by our practicing respect towards all beings, and working for their benefit, can we create peace in this world.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

LS32

Day 20

Day 20 completes Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground, and concludes the Fifth Volume of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma.

Last month, covered Maitreya’s statement that “We have never seen these many thousands of billions of Bodhisattvas.” So today…

Thereupon Sakyamuni Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva:

Excellent, excellent, Ajita! You asked me a very important question. All of you should concentrate your minds, wear the armor of endeavors, and be resolute. Now I will reveal, I will show, the wisdom of the Buddhas, their supernatural power without hindrance, their dauntless powers like a lion’s, and their great power of bravery.

Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he said, sang in gathas:

Exert yourselves and concentrate your minds!
Now I will tell you about this matter.
Do not doubt me!
My wisdom is difficult to understand.

Arouse your power of faith,
And do good patiently!
You will be able to hear the Dharma
That you have never heard before.

Now I will relieve you.
Do not doubt me!
Do not be afraid!
I do not tell a lie.
My wisdom is immeasurable.
The highest Dharma that I attained
Is profound and difficult to understand.
Now I will expound it.
Listen to me with all your hearts!

The Daily Dharma of Oct. 19, 2016, had this response:

Excellent, excellent, Ajita! You asked me a very important question. All of you should concentrate your minds, wear the armor of endeavors, and be resolute. Now I will reveal, I will show, the wisdom of the Buddhas, their supernatural powers without hindrance, their dauntless powers like a lion’s, and their great power of bravery.

The Buddha makes this declaration to Maitreya Bodhisattva, whom he calls Ajita (Invincible) in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sūtra. In the story, innumerable Bodhisattvas spring up from underground and vow to the Buddha to keep the sūtra after his extinction. Maitreya, knowing the minds of many others who have come to hear the Buddha teach, asks about these Bodhisattvas, whom he has never seen before. This question from Maitreya then leads to the Buddha later giving his most difficult teaching in Chapter Sixteen. The Buddha’s declaration in this passage shows how important questioning is to our faith.

The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com

I wear my armor of endeavors. I am resolute. I have aroused my power of faith. I am listening with all my heart.

Odaimoku

Namas

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Namu or Namas assumes a variety of meanings and literally signifies devotion. Namas further signifies to return, restore or entrust one’s life, as well as to express one’s gratitude, a respectful greeting, reverence, to sincerely believe and to take refuge in.

Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo